Appy 1000mg

I really enjoyed doing this one, even if I got lost completely on the first day, wandering between ideas. Finally, a friend of mine pointed out a detail which unlocked everything.

I didn't have time to add sounds, so I highly suggest to play an ambient music of yours. I personally recommend the Myst Exile soundtrack.

Thank you Benjamin.

[About the enhanced version]

I fixed many little problems in this version and added an item which was planned to be released in the first version : the dig-cannon. Use this item to dig the walls :) This item is hidden... somewhere.

Yes sorry for the poor camera system : I hate it too. I had to do this choice because of my render technique : the game world is a 400x100 single bitmap. This bitmap is then scaled 4x (using a scaling algorithm like SuperSAI in emulators), which I implemented in a simple but dirty way...

@Septi > the world was generated at first, but with the idea of a more story based game came the necessity for a carefully crafted level design. So I finally imported a bitmap map which I created with Photoshop...

Nice concept and beautiful graphics, but I just couldn't get along with the platforming - kept missing jumps without the jetpack when it looked like they were possible, and the jetpack itself failed to fire sometimes. Hope you do a version with sound, I'm sure it'll add a ton :)

Stellar, if totally depressing game. If you can find a solution for the jumpy camera, the platforming would benefit from it. Maybe just make sure leaps can be started and completed on one screen? Awesome awesome awesome anyway.

This is a work of art. I didn't mind the flick-screen scrolling, except for the player and sometimes particle effects lagging the cut by a frame. And movement was a bit slow, but it contributed to the dreamlike effect. The aesthetic is the obvious highlight but I think the interpretation of the theme is the cleverest element. Absolutely top notch!

Your game is wonderful. Might I interest you in some music for it? I also love the EXILE soundtrack, but maybe something more electronic and bit-crushed would fit the aesthetic? I have a track that plays with the same notion of duality you're working so well in Appy...I'd love to do a new mix, alternating 'light/dark world' loops to match your gameplay, and stripped down enough to make room for sound effects - which I'd love to give you, too! May I send you a PM on here, if you're interested and that's possible?

The graphics are great! However I was slightly annoyed by the engine; the jumps felt a bit too quick and the walls were a bit arbitrarily defined, which combined with the jumps and the jumpy scrolling made reaching some platforms a bit flimsy. Also even though it's a grand achievement to get any story at all to an LD game, I felt that the story was rather cliché and expectable, thus making it less dramatic and interesting. The twist at the end is a nice touch but hardly anything new. Overall I'd say that the graphical style is the strongest point of the game. This is not to say that the overall game isn't good, of course; I'm sure even the number of ratings this has tells enough.

Awesome job. Amazing style as everyone has said. The abrupt camera took me out of the moment sometimes though... and the whole thing was a little slow in Firefox, especially during the Appy transitions. Fantastic overall! (Definitely reminds me of the game Eversion - have you played it?)

This game is six kinds of awesome. Pretty but deceptively simple at first, the game took me by surprise by transforming to a such a compelling experience. Sounds would be a good addition, of course, but it's extraordinary how well the world sucks one in even without them.

But what is "appy"? Is it the main character? Is it his way of saying "happy"? Is ot short for "apply"? Or does the game show up way more at the top of the website if it begins with an A? I guess we'll never know the true meaning of this mystery...

I think what sells it though is the movement of the character. I have no idea wheter this was made on purpose or is just a generous side-effect, but it seems as though the character moves within the pixels of the grid-world, he doens't just slide along the scenery. Subtle, but very important.

Now that the praise is out of the way, time for some contructive criticism :-) :

- The level-screen-jump-thingie is disorientating the first time, but works otherwise. Especially at the end, when it conveys a sense of motion.

- The "old man" is tricky. It is after all the main cliché given with the theme itsself, but he is placed at the best point possible, so it doesn't appear immediatly as a ripoff or an uninspired design-choice, but more of a hommage.

- The level-design is a lot of trial'n'error. As in, you have to die before you figure out the basic rules of the world.

- At first the theme seems completely ignored. It becomes apparent at 3/4 of the game, but doesn't seem tacked on or forced into a character, but rather woven into the game-structure ittself, out of which it evolves.

- The fall at the end and the jetpack don't mix well. It would be a poor design-choice to take the jetpack away from the player, risking the flow of the player. Does the player use the jetpack however, it somehow destroys the scene. noooooooooo WHEE! nooooooooooo

- I have the feeling that once enemies start blowing up scenery it might be possible to get stuck in a dead end. Or there are too few of them to have any impact.

- This is strong Stuff. Drugs, death, lovely blobs that turn into suicide-bombery, creepy ... things, I used to get nightmares from things like these.

Also, I'm not sure if any sounds would have made it better (blowing of the wind? A subtler, slower, benny-hill-esque fun-romp? nah...). It sits at the same point silhouettes and books (and other stuff) are, where the player substitutes the empty space with whatever is perfect in the players mind. Matching that is impossible, and given the timespan of the contest adding sounds would run the risk of destryong more of the gameworld than improving it.

Or you ran out of time and couldn't be arsed. I guess we'll never know... :-)

This has some of the best graphics I've ever seen in an LD. Nicely done! I am going to look at the source to see how you did this with good performance. Could have been improved with smoother scrolling though. It's possible to get stuck permanently because of the explosions when in withdrawal, for example at the bottom of that deep pit towards the middle of the level. Otherwise, was a pretty easy but enjoyable game. There are some jumps that are barely makeable, but that lead to dead ends, and probably some opportunities for using explosions to get to new spots, too. Would have been nice if those had some kind of rewards. :)

Weird. Pretty cool, but hard to really follow along with what is going on. Kind of as if the game itself doesn't actually care if it makes sense or not, just... adding some twists here and there, and an analogy layer in the end. Makes it genuine, I guess. True surrealism. A bit like some of my games, although seemingly with a design plan somewhere inside it all. I like the tree gfx most. Jumping/flying around wasn't always smooth and comfortable, but ok.